pig`s and horses

[All]

has any one else had problem`s with pig (or the smell of pigs)

i have worked with pigs before i went for a lesson and found that all of a sudden the horse did not like me he would sniff me and snort at me
he was trying to bite me staring at me and circling me when i was holding his rains

we had to bribe him so i could mount him
this only worked for a short while as he bucked me off in to the wall at the side of the arena

similar thing`s have happens with other horses as well

has any one else had any similar experiences

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Yes, it is well known that horses are usually wary of pigs, because if they were living in the wild, they could be in danger from wild boar. Our first horse a r & d gelding who wouldn't turn a hair at a Blackpool tram rattling past used to tiptoe past the local pig farm and ore recently my big brussen Draft mare who would see off most things and certainly wasn't worried by a tractor carrying a big ring feeder on its forks, or goats, grew a couple of hands when we passed a field of pigs, which she must have been able to smell from her own field, even if she couldn't quite see them.

 

[ExRacers]

I used to keep my horse on a pig farm! Never had any issues with them needless to say but most people out hacking couldn’t get past the farm for love nor money! ?

 

[JackFrost]

Even really sensible horses I have known were terrified of them. Seems to be something primeval hard-wired into many horses.
Yes, just the smell is scary. Your horse would be genuinely afraid. If you were riding the horse, it might indeed be like having a predator on your back, so the bucking might be understandable.

 

[Gloi]

I used to keep my horse on a pig farm! Never had any issues with them needless to say but most people out hacking couldn’t get past the farm for love nor money! ?

Same here. Pony was in a pen with pigs in the next one.

 

[laura_nash]

Pigs and horses is like spiders and people. It's a common fear that can't be explained by actual negative experiences but just seems to be hard wired. Not for all, and it can be got over, but I would always assume a horse is scared of them unless proved otherwise.

 

[meleeka]

I have 3 pet pigs. When they met (piglets were 8 weeks old, so tiny!) they all reacted differently. The cob who was the herd leader was terrified. It took him a few days to be curious. The old mare just looked aghast but didn’t run for the hills and the mini Shetland went straight over to say hello through the fence ?. I think the noise is pretty alarming if they’ve never seen them and although I don’t think they smell, I guess they must do. Ponies and pigs are fine next to each other now and are quite often found nose to nose with the pigs chatting away to them.

 

[silv]

There are numerous wild pigs in the forestry where I ride. I would say in my experience 90% of horses are terrified of them, they know they are there as they smell them, which makes them on edge. It all stems back to horses being prey animals and could be attacked/eaten by a pig. Many horses are terrified of donkeys too, why I have never worked out, perhaps it is their odd appearance.

 

[Prancerpoos]

Many horses are terrified of donkeys too, why I have never worked out, perhaps it is their odd appearance.

What? You don’t have those horse killing donkeys in NZ?

I can understand the pig fear, but never understood why horses are scared of donkeys. Interestingly, the answer seems to be to buy Irish horses. I assume, perhaps wrongly, that that may because they have grown up around farm animals, but the ones I have known have taken donkeys and pigs in their stride. Having bought my last 2 horses from nice quiet English studs they were both scared of many things, including cattle and sheep. As for pigs and donkeys, they were definitely in the “No way” category!

 

[fredflop]

I think donkeys are scary, as they sort of look like a horse, but it’s not quite a horse.

very similar to the string of racehorses I met whilst riding a coloured cob. The lead racehorse couldn’t figure out what the strangely coloured devil in horse shape was. It just couldn’t comprehend that a horse could be two different colours!

 

[millikins]

I have no idea why so many horses are scared of pigs (none of mine have been) but I'm not convinced it's because they fear being eaten. If true, why aren't they scared of dogs which are genetically identical, or almost identical to wolves? Pigs are omnivores, not predators, they could conceivably attack an injured horse but couldn't possibly run down a healthy one.

 

[fredflop]

Most pigs are larger than dogs

 

[hopscotch bandit]

has any one else had problem`s with pig (or the smell of pigs)

i have worked with pigs before i went for a lesson and found that all of a sudden the horse did not like me he would sniff me and snort at me
he was trying to bite me staring at me and circling me when i was holding his rains

we had to bribe him so i could mount him
this only worked for a short while as he bucked me off in to the wall at the side of the arena

similar thing`s have happens with other horses as well

has any one else had any similar experiences

Years ago one of the lanes where i used hack my horse had a farm with pigs and one day some piglets (very young) escaped their enclosure and ran across the lane in front of my horse. This led to a life long fear of the squealy little blighters!

This was only intensified when the same horse was shown a couple if pet pigs at a show centre in between classes. The horse was visibly quaking in terror, i had no idea he would have such a severe reaction. And when he came to load to go home my horse refused, even though for the previous 7 years he'd always skipped on the trailer first time. Whilst at the centre he'd spent hours stood watching in the general direction the pig pen and snorting every time he peered round the trailer.

He ended up at a Monty Roberts demo for problem loaders! Monty wasn't convinced he wouldn't load due to his scare that day but i knew otherwise.

When i moved yards shortly after from the yard i was at (and since returned to) they had pigs and caused him issues although he never saw them only smelt/heard them. I strongly believe how he sees pigs was reinforced from the piglets to the show centre pigs to the ones at the yard.

Horse have a natural fear of pigs as wild boar hunt horses and will use their tusks to disembowel them. So irs ingrained into them in the same way antelope know to be scared of lions for example.

 

[planete]

I did not know wild pigs hunted.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Yep. There are a number of incidents recorded every year and in forests where they tend to live they kill wild horses as they are carnivores.

Believe it or not the most vulnerable place on a horse is his stomach. I can remember reading why the 'wip wop' a soft colourful piece of rope designed or used by Richard Maxwell is so affective for problem rearers.

He had Mary Kings horse 'Kings Copy' which was going to be pts as he was a problem rearer and using the wip wop on its belly when it reared solved the issue. You just lean to the side when the horse rears, and flick the rope on its belly. Its all about timing. The horse knows its stomach is vulnerable to attack from predators (wild boar) so won't expose its stomach by rearing. They soon stop.

Mental i know, but very effective. Obviously only works when horses choose to rear as an evasion tool, not if pain hasn't been ruled out first.

 

[millikins]

I did not know wild pigs hunted.

I don't think they do.

 

[Birker2020]

Sorry I am at work now so on computer on different user name.

Well here's some evidence of attacks in America Milikins.

Obviously wild boar were eradicated during medieval times in Britain but then came back again and there are thought to be between 500 and 1,000 animals in the UK currently. The biggest populations are in Kent, East Sussex and the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire numbering a thousand, with others in Devon, Bedfordshire, Dorset and Scotland. In the 1990s farmers reintroduced them to this country. Many escaped, or were dumped around the UK, and have established themselves in a few forests around the country. They are very common in France numbering approx 2 million.

In historic times in this country people would go around on horseback with long spears killing them. They were an adversary of horses because of their long tusks that they would use to kill a horse by spearing its stomach and its intestines would fall out and it would be eaten. Obviously a wild boar is somewhat smaller than a horse so this was the only way it could kill a horse using this method. This is why horses dislike exposing their stomachs to prey. This is what Richard Maxwell wrote about in the article I read when he had Mary Kings horse Kings Copy given to him by Cathy Hedges.

https://mycountry955.com/watch-horse-and-young-rider-attacked-by-wild-boar/
https://www.homesteadingtoday.com/t...r-can-do-to-a-horse-very-graphic-pics.549654/
https://www.wistv.com/2019/12/13/case-file-sheds-more-light-deadly-boar-attacks-horses-upstate/
https://www.paulickreport.com/horse-care-category/wild-boars-attacking-horses-in-south-carolina/#:~:text=Horses that were attacked had,tracks consistent with the animals.

 

[Dexter]

I thought people werent allowed to have two different log ons?

I've kept mine at a pig farm with no issues at all, yet one of mine hates cows!

 

[meleeka]

I thought people werent allowed to have two different log ons?

I've kept mine at a pig farm with no issues at all, yet one of mine hates cows!

Mine too! We don’t have many cows around here, so maybe that’s why. I’m pretty sure a cow isn’t a predator to anyone!

 

[ycbm]

I don't think they do.

I think horses' pig fear genes were set when they were the size of big dogs and would have been hunted by wild boar.
.

 

[rabatsa]

Back to donkeys it is the ears. Horses use their ears to send messages to other horses and donkeys with their long ears are SHOUTING.

 

[Birker2020]

I thought people werent allowed to have two different log ons?

I've kept mine at a pig farm with no issues at all, yet one of mine hates cows!

I've explained on numerous occasions why I use a different user name on my phone to that on my work computer and I am not doing it maliciously for any other reason than I left the company and didn't make a note of my password.

When I can't sleep (which is often) I will sometimes go on the forum on my phone.

Incidentally I can bet you that there are a number of users on the forum that have different user names/passwords and not for the reasons I state either.

 

[planete]

Wild boar can be aggressive if they think you might be a danger to the piglets or mating, they are otherwise very shy and keep away from people as much as possible. When they were hunted on horseback they defended themselves as best they could which is not the same as actively looking for something to injure and kill. There are plenty of wild boar in the Forest of Dean where I have walked quite a bit and they are becoming a nuisance as they have been allowed to multiply hugely but I have never heard of wild boar actually going after anybody. The same cannot be said of some domestic pannage pigs on the New Forest who are not scared of humans and can be occasionally bad tempered (if a pig is reported for bad behaviour the owner is asked to take it back home). None of my horses have been scared of the pigs we encounter on the Forest. Careful introductions help as you would do for anything new. I think smelling them without knowing what the source of the smell is scares horses more than the actual animal would if introduced like other hazards.

 

[Pippity]

I've explained on numerous occasions why I use a different user name on my phone to that on my work computer and I am not doing it maliciously for any other reason than I left the company and didn't make a note of my password.

When I can't sleep (which is often) I will sometimes go on the forum on my phone.

Incidentally I can bet you that there are a number of users on the forum that have different user names/passwords and not for the reasons I state either.

Could you possibly put in your signatures what your other username is? I had no idea you had two usernames, and have no idea what your other username is. And I spend far, far, FAR too much time on this damn forum.

 

[millikins]

I think horses' pig fear genes were set when they were the size of big dogs and would have been hunted by wild boar.
.

So why not dogs/wolves?

 

[Winters100]

One of mine is terrified of pigs, shakes and freezes, but he is also terrified of shetlands, so I'm not sure that it is very scientifically interesting

 

[laura_nash]

So why not dogs/wolves?

Why am I scared of spiders but not snakes? Not sure it works that logically TBH.

 

[Cob Life]

I work with pigs and my 2 and my friends horses are always fine, but my 2 live next door to pigs

 

[DSB]

Horses don't like camels either and when the circus was in town,the dairy cows were terrified when they heard the lions roar.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Why am I scared of spiders but not snakes? Not sure it works that logically TBH.

And why are cats scared of cucumbers?